MCSN: August 7, 2010

Four-feit

Week 9 Recap

Fri, Aug 13, 2010

Punishers' Gary Lockwood (foreground) delivers a pitch as Ben Thacker gets ready

MCSN set an ignominious new record this Saturday: most forfeits in a single day. Four forfeits, including the league's first-ever double-forfeit, left some managers scratching their heads, others thankful for a win, and all hoping for perfect playoffs attendance.

The absentee-rostered Lion’s Den threw wins to two teams on Saturday—the Smithereens at 8 a.m. and the Punishers at 9 a.m. But after sailing through their first forfeited game, the Smithereens fell to the Carter Administration 12-8 at 10 a.m. on Diamond #1. To add injury to insult, Smithereens manager Mat Smith became this season’s first fallen angel…er, manager.

In the game’s first inning, Smith was attacked by an unsecured first base and broke his right arm. Smith continued to play the rest of the game, but will be out for the rest of the season.

“I must have been on adrenaline as I didn't feel the pain until the game was over,” said Smith. “Now, I will cheer and lead my team from the bench; [I can no longer be] a player/manager like Pete Rose was later in his career (but without the gambling problem).”

Despite the rough start and fielding only eight players, the Smithereens (4-3) took the lead early. However Carter Administration bats came alive in the fourth inning with 5 runs to secure the time-shortened win. Afterwards, the peanut team (5-1) held a special ceremony to celebrate the season.

“We awarded two MVPs (Most Valuable Peanut, courtesy of Zach Nayak) to Chris Carter for his combined display of hitting (two home runs) and fatherhood (taking care of his daughter while his wife relaxes at home),” said Carter Administration assistant to the manager Bill Van Tuinen. “Josh Hall received the other one for excellence in pitching, hitting and absorbing the hysterics of the assistant to the manager after a base-running error. After the ceremony, robot-like shortstop Jeremy Huntington said, ‘Me Make Peanut Better, Me Deserve Peanut Too.’”

Next time, Jeremy, next time.

Before that team-building moment, the Carter Administration met Global Warming and suffered their first loss of the season, 7-6, earlier that morning in the 9 a.m. game on the main diamond. Like the Smithereens, Global Warming (4-3) was only able to field eight players. Yet they showed off their bench depth by still pulling off the big upset win.

“The heart of the Global Warming infield, the Halpins and the Zuperkus, was missing, but their replacements stepped up and played some of the best softball of the season,” said Global Warming manager Ovi Tisler. “First baseman Patrick Halpin, shortstop Jonathan Thornton, pitcher Andy Tisler and second basewoman Andrea Tisler filled in for their absent teammates with some extraordinary defensive play.”

Carter Administration Manager Chris Carter agreed.

“This '8-player minimum to play a game' [rule] places an undue burden on Moody softball teams.”

- Bill Van Tuinen on the Wombats' inability to field 8 of its 15 players

“There is another new ‘power couple’ at Moody Softball now that the Huntingtons, Paces, and Radcliffs have quit playing together,” said Carter. “It was all about [TMC Community] Covenant’s very own Andy and Andrea Tisler.”

First-time fill-in pitcher and co-manager Andy Tisler held Carter Administration hitters to their lowest run total of the season (six) while going 3-for-5 at the plate, including a walk-off, over-the-fence, two-run shot to win the game in dramatic fashion. It was the league's first-ever walk-off home run. Andrea Tisler also made a game-changing catch at 2nd base to shut down current batting leader Bill Van Tuinen’s potential two-run,
win-stealing hit, dashing the Carter Administration’s hopes for an undefeated season, and ending Van Tuinen's bid
for a perfect 1.000 batting average.

"I think we finally found [Van Tuinen’s] kryptonite: Romanians,” said Ovi Tisler. “The irony is that if it wasn't for Jimmy Carter's liberal immigration policy, we'd be playing soccer with a goat bladder in the streets of Bucharest right now instead of humiliating his team."

All the Tislers' contributions to end the Carter Administration's bid for a perfect season also ironically helped preserve the 2008 Emoticons team (which the three Tislers were an instrumental part) as the only team in league history to go undefeated the entire season.

As one team got its first loss, another got its first win. After the Punishers' forfeit win at 9 a.m., the Punishers followed up with a real win, beating Tsunami 11-10 in the 10 a.m. game on the main diamond.

The game was a hard-fought battle, as the Punishers led most of the game but surrendered the lead thanks to Tsunami’s five-run sixth inning scoring surge. And with two outs, no one on, the Punishers trailing by one in the 7th inning, and Ben Thacker hitting a routine fly ball to left, the game seemed over...until Tsunami left-fielder Steve Borgstrom dropped the ball. With new life, the Punishers then persevered to win by one run as Rob Tong followed with a deep shot to center field to tie the game and rookie Todd Souto drove in the winning run with a clutch single.

Punishers manager Scott Lilly pointed to Donald Cheeks’ consistent offensive and defensive plays and Souto’s offensive performance including that big game-winning hit.

“It was a great overall team effort, with the top of our lineup starting to produce the way we're capable of,” said Lilly. “On a side note, my personal losing streak of 15 straight losses, which I believe is the longest in Moody Church softball history [Editor's note: that's correct], came to an end. The curse of the Sluggers is finally over.”

Tsunami manger Sam Baturoni confided the loss was a setback but his team will be ready for the playoffs if they can get everyone in the proper attire.

“What was with Jenkins [Ssekendi] not wearing any shoes?” asked Sam. “We'll have to call him 'Shoeless Jenkins Ssekendi' from now on!”

The Punishers improved to 2-4 while Tsunami fell to .500 at 3-3.

The 11 a.m. game was victimized by a double-forfeit game between the Wombats and El Fuego. Each team suffered a loss as a result, ending El Fuego's bid for an undefeated season at 4-1-1, and keeping the Wombats winless at 0-6. The Wombats have two games remaining to avoid joining the 2009 Mt. Sinai Sluggers as the only winless teams in league history.

“This '8-player minimum to play a game' [rule] places an undue burden on Moody softball teams,” said Van Tuinen, tongue firmly in cheek. “The Wombats can regularly field two players, sometimes even three! They could have played a pitcher, shortstop, and left-fielder. Although I don't know what they would do if they had the bases-loaded with only three players on the team..."

“We are looking forward to having this Saturday off even though we are currently scheduled to play Lion's Den and the Wombats,” added Chris Carter.

Here’s hoping everyone shows up next week.